Model Madras Loom

This model loom was made by a James Houston of Galston who spent his life working in the lace making industry. From the early 1800s weavers in the Irvine Valley had been producing a gauze material which they called figured muslin. It was made on a specialist handloom through a process of "cross-weaving". Around the start of the 20th century the powered Madras Loom, which worked on this cross-weaving principle, was introduced.